Tanya Dearns
Personal information
Full name Tanya Jane Dearns (née Cox)
Born (1967-02-18) 18 February 1967 (age 57)
Rotorua, New Zealand
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
School Waitakere College
Otumoetai College
Spouse
Grant Dearns
​
(m. 2000)​
Relatives Warner Dearns (son)
Netball career
Playing position(s): GK, GD
Years National team(s) Caps
1990–98 New Zealand 31
Coaching career
Years Team(s)
2000 Capital Shakers (assistant)
2001–02 Capital Shakers
2006 Western Flyers
2013 Waikato BOP Magic (assistant)
2016 Central Pulse
2018 UWS Sirens
Medal record
Representing  New Zealand
Netball World Cup
Silver medal – second place 1991 Sydney Tournament
World Games
Silver medal – second place 1993 The Hague Tournament

Tanya Jane Dearns (née Cox; born 18 February 1967) is a New Zealand netball coach and former netball player. She played 31 international matches for the New Zealand team between 1990 and 1998, including at the 1991 World Netball Championships.

Early life

Dearns was born Tanya Jane Cox in Rotorua on 18 February 1967, the daughter of John and Jeanette Cox.[1][2] Her father worked for the Post Office and the family lived in various towns in the North Island, including Hastings, Auckland, and Tauranga.[2] Cox was educated at Waitakere College in West Auckland, and Otumoetai College in Tauranga, representing the latter school in both netball and basketball.[2][3]

Netball career

Cox began playing representative netball for Western Bay of Plenty, before moving to Wellington where she played for the Pacific Island Church club and represented Wellington for 16 years.[2] In 1987, she was in the New Zealand under-21 side, before playing basketball professionally in Australia for the Nunawading Spectres in 1987 and 1988.[2][4]

Cox returned to netball and was a member of the Silver Ferns from 1990 to 1998, with a break in 1994 and 1995 when she coached the Wellington team.[1][2][4] Cox was a member of the New Zealand team at the 1991 World Netball Championships in Sydney, where the Silver Ferns finished as runners-up. She also completed with the national side at the 1993 World Games in The Hague, once again coming second behind Australia. Across her international career, Cox played in 31 Test matches.[1]

Between 1998 and 2000, Cox played for the Capital Shakers in the National Bank Cup, and was assistant coach of the side in 2000, with Lois Muir as head coach.[5] Cox retired as a player at the end of the 2000 season, and married rugby coach Grant Dearns on 16 September 2000.[2][6] The couple went on to have two children, including rugby union player Warner Dearns.[7]

Tanya Dearns was head coach of the Capital Shakers in 2001 and 2002, before moving to Napier in 2003 to become Netball Eastern regional manager.[8] Dearns returned to coaching for a year in 2006, leading the Western Flyers in the National Bank Cup.[9] She then took up a position as general manager of the Napier Golf Club, before being appointed assistant coach of the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic for the 2013 ANZ Championship season.[10] Despite being publicly endorsed by outgoing coach Noeline Taurua at the end of the 2013 season, Dearns was overlooked for the Magic's head coach role in favour of Australian Julie Fitzgerald,[11] and instead was appointed as general manager of the Hawke's Bay Hawks franchise in the National Basketball League.[12] Dearns succeeded Robyn Broughton as coach of the Central Pulse for the 2016 ANZ Championship season.[13] However, the Pulse won just two of their 13 matches in 2016, and Dearns was replaced as coach by Yvette McCausland-Durie.[14] Dearns was subsequently head coach of the UWS Sirens in Scotland, before moving to the Cairns Netball Association in Queensland as operations manager at the end of 2018.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Tanya Dearns". Netball New Zealand. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Singh, Anendra (8 November 2007). "Netball: Dearns' world view". Hawke's Bay Today. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  3. ^ Farthing, Bruce R. (2005). Life enlightened by learning – Otumoetai College: the first forty years (PDF). pp. 54, 59. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b Nealon, Sarah (30 June 2000). "Netball: Injured Cox determined to play out last season". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Cox in charge of Shakers". The Dominion. 5 September 2000. p. 28.
  6. ^ Troughton, Jamie (5 September 2000). "Cox steps up but Shakers still searching". Evening Post. p. 24.
  7. ^ Porter, Joe (9 October 2019). "Rugby World Cup – A towering Kiwi teen makes his mark in Japan". RNZ Checkpoint. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  8. ^ Bleach, Keiran (21 June 2003). "Dearns takes up Napier job". Dominion Post. p. 21.
  9. ^ Heagney, George (25 August 2015). "New Central Pulse coach Tanya Dearns eyes Trans-Tasman title within three years". Stuff. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Netball: Dearns eager to build new squad". Bay of Plenty Times. 15 October 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  11. ^ Singh, ANendra (6 August 2013). "Netball: Dearns in doldrums". Hawke's Bay Today. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Dearns aims for top with Hawks". Hawke's Bay Today. 17 October 2013. p. 42.
  13. ^ "Netball: Dearns to be next Pulse coach". New Zealand Herald. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  14. ^ Heagney, George (11 July 2016). "Yvette McCausland-Durie to replace Tanya Dearns as Central Pulse coach". Stuff. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Dearns in top netball post". Cairns Post. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
Categories